Criteo (NASDAQ:CRTO) Issues Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.08 EPS

Criteo (NASDAQ:CRTO) posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday. The information services provider reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.72 by $0.08, Briefing.com reports. Criteo had a return on equity of 14.30% and a net margin of 5.60%.The business had revenue of $428.02 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $263.57 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.92 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 11.3% on a year-over-year basis.

Here are the key takeaways from Criteo’s conference call:

• Q2 missed expectations as several large enterprise Performance Media clients reduced spending, leading to a 12% constant-currency decline in Contribution ex-TAC and a revised 2026 outlook for a 10%–12% decline.
• Management now assumes no recovery from affected enterprise clients through year-end and expects Q3 Contribution ex-TAC of $237 million–$241 million, down 14%–15% year over year; adjusted EBITDA margin guidance was reduced to approximately 30% for 2026.
• The OpenAI partnership is scaling rapidly, with more than 2,000 brands now running campaigns and ChatGPT traffic converting at roughly 1.5–2 times the rate of traditional referral traffic; management expects OpenAI and broader agentic-AI initiatives to become meaningful growth drivers in 2027.
• Underlying Retail Media Contribution ex-TAC grew 20% excluding previously announced client scope reductions, while retail media spend rose 31% and Auction-Based Display expanded to more than 85 retailers globally.
• Cost discipline supported $73 million of Q2 adjusted EBITDA despite weaker revenue, and Criteo ended the quarter with no long-term debt, $180 million in trailing-12-month free cash flow, and $160 million remaining under its share-repurchase authorization.

Criteo Price Performance

Shares of CRTO stock traded up $0.53 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $17.58. The company had a trading volume of 731,497 shares, compared to its average volume of 511,890. The company has a market cap of $883.22 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.92 and a beta of 0.29. Criteo has a 12 month low of $15.57 and a 12 month high of $25.29. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $19.70 and a 200-day simple moving average of $18.76.

Key Headlines Impacting Criteo

Here are the key news stories impacting Criteo this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Criteo reported second-quarter adjusted EPS of $0.80, exceeding the $0.72 consensus estimate. The company also deployed $30 million toward share repurchases, which may support per-share value. Criteo Reports Second Quarter 2026 Results
• Positive Sentiment: Benchmark maintained a “buy” rating while lowering its price target to $21 from $25, implying continued potential upside from current levels. Benchmark price target update
• Positive Sentiment: Criteo plans to cancel 4.5 million treasury shares, reducing share capital and potentially improving shareholder returns. The company also highlighted momentum in artificial-intelligence-related offerings during its earnings call. Criteo Treasury Share Cancellation
• Neutral Sentiment: Morgan Stanley cut its price target to $25 from $29 and assigned an “equal weight” rating. The revised target still indicates substantial potential appreciation, but the reduction signals more cautious expectations. Morgan Stanley price target update
• Neutral Sentiment: Criteo appointed Connor McGogney as chief financial officer, effective August 10, with former CFO Sarah Glickman moving to an advisory role. The leadership transition adds a near-term execution consideration. Criteo CFO Appointment
• Negative Sentiment: Revenue declined 11.3% year over year to $428.0 million, while EPS fell from $0.92 in the prior-year quarter despite beating estimates. Criteo Second-Quarter Results
• Negative Sentiment: Third-quarter revenue guidance of $237 million to $241 million is well below the $279.6 million consensus estimate. Full-year revenue guidance of $1.0 billion to $1.1 billion also implies limited growth, while contribution ex-TAC is expected to decline 10% to 12% as management assumes no recovery in spending from large clients. Criteo 2026 Outlook

Insider Transactions at Criteo

In related news, CFO Sarah Js Glickman sold 2,465 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.06, for a total value of $42,052.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 431,879 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,367,855.74. This represents a 0.57% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Company insiders own 1.52% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Criteo

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in Criteo by 27.5% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 25,832 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $532,000 after purchasing an additional 5,568 shares during the last quarter. Vident Advisory LLC boosted its stake in shares of Criteo by 34.3% in the 4th quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 12,907 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $266,000 after buying an additional 3,294 shares during the last quarter. Pillsbury Lake Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Criteo in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $9,486,000. XTX Topco Ltd bought a new position in shares of Criteo in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,212,000. Finally, Susquehanna Portfolio Strategies LLC increased its position in shares of Criteo by 24.6% during the fourth quarter. Susquehanna Portfolio Strategies LLC now owns 107,900 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $2,224,000 after acquiring an additional 21,275 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.27% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded Criteo from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $35.00 to $20.50 in a report on Thursday. Benchmark cut their target price on Criteo from $25.00 to $21.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Criteo from $29.00 to $25.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Wedbush initiated coverage on shares of Criteo in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $30.00 price target for the company. Finally, BMO Capital Markets set a $20.00 price objective on shares of Criteo in a report on Thursday. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $23.15.

Criteo Company Profile

Criteo is a global technology company specializing in digital performance advertising and commerce media solutions. The company provides a range of AI-driven ad products designed to help brands, retailers, and agencies deliver personalized promotional messages to consumers across web, mobile, and connected TV environments. By leveraging large-scale data analytics and machine learning algorithms, Criteo’s platform optimizes the timing, placement, and creative of ads to drive engagement and conversions.

At the core of Criteo’s offering is its dynamic retargeting solution, which enables advertisers to automatically generate and display personalized product recommendations based on user behavior.